Skip to content

What to visit in Naples

Spaccanapoli

Usually called Decumano Inferiore, Spaccanapoli is a linear tour, more than one kilometre long, and it divides the ancient city into North and South.
The walk starts from Quartieri Spagnoli and ends in Forcella. It is a treasure of history and stories among old buildings and churches, such as Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, Basilica di Santa Chiara and Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore. It’s a place full of vitality and passion: from the street artists to the historical shops of craftsmen, from the city legends and myths to the unique smells of Neapolitan cuisine.

Cappella SanseveroDistance: 1,1 Km • How to reach

There is an esoteric, alchemical, masonic Naples creeping in hidden under the colour and the folklore of a postcard. For those who would like to give a try to it near Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, Cappella Sansevero is the ideal place.

Full of symbolism and precious works, this place reflects the charm and the dark creativity of Prince Raimondo di Sangro, who expanded and enriched it. It’s worth coming in: here you can admire Cristo Velato, marble masterpiece by Giuseppe Sanmartino, and the Anatomical Machines which are a deep mystery as for their creation.

Piazza del PlebiscitoDistance: 850 metri • How to reach

Royals of all times and blazons guard it: the Normans, the Swabians, the Angioins, the Habsburgs, the Bourbons, the Savoys, sculpted in Royal Palace statues. It’s the arena of the great concerts, but also of urchins flaunting their soccer talent and dreaming of the Golden Ball in the shadow of the bronze horses.
Set of a multi-ethnic landscape going from Via Toledo to the sea, Piazza Plebiscito falls within the symbols of Naples legitimately, as well as Palazzo Reale. Piazza Plebiscito is 25000 sq. m. of beauty, surrounded by columns and the Basilica di San Francesco di Paola, a few metres from other jewels: Galleria Umberto I, San Carlo Theatre and Maschio Angioino.

San Carlo Theatre
Distance: 700 metri • How to reach

Galleria Umberto I
Distance: 650 metri • How to reach

Maschio Angioino
Distance: 450 metri • How to reach

Naples undergroundDistance: 1,4 Km • How to reach

Naples underground peeps out from Piazza San Gaetano. The descent to the “underground city” begins here in the heart of the historical centre, just before Via dei Tribunali.
150 steps and 40 metres downward, like in a trip back to the past from the Second World War to the Roman Empire. Tunnels, very narrow corridors, tanks which were digged for water supply till the beginning of the twentieth century, these all unknot through the tuff caves for many metres. The war changed their use: the hidden Naples provided the people with a shelter from bombings.

DuomoDistance: 1,6 Km • How to reach

Duomo (Naples Cathedral) is a 50 metres wide, neo-Gothic marble façade. Here you can enjoy the view of a magnificent interior, halfway between Renaissance and Baroque, decorated by paintings by Luca Giordano, with a Latin cross plan, three aisles spaced out by two rows of eight columns each, and side chapels. Located a few steps from the Decumani, Duomo is an art and history treasure. Despite its architectural changes (this church was completed only in the twentieth century), its original Gothic mark has been kept intact outside. Here you may attend the miracle of St. Januarius’ melting blood three times a year.

CapodimonteDistance: 1,4 Km • How to reach

Planted on the hill of the same name in a 120 hectares oasis, the magnificent Reggia di Capodimonte looks on to Naples. Early summer residence of Bourbons, but “safe” of the royal family treasures from the word go, today it guards an extraordinary heritage of paintings including
some by Raffaello, Tiziano, Bellini, Mantegna, together with Galleria Farnese, d’Avalos Collection, the gallery of porcelains, the room of tapestries, plus an entire wing dedicated to the nineteenth century and one to contemporary art.

San MartinoDistance: 2 Km • How to reach

From a monk house to a museum, as the archeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli wanted. The history of the Kingdom of Naples and of the Two Sicilies can be revisited in the rooms of National Museum of San Martino, while our view is getting lost through the natural gouache painted by the gulf, the sea, and the monastery majestically looking on the net of the alleys below. This museum has incorporated new collections since the ‘90s, among which a naval section and one about decorative arts.

Scale di Napoli

Naples must be explored up and down. Hills, descents, ramps, stairs, big steps link the core of the alleys to the upper city, the one which was born from the urban development already since 1300. Nooks or panoramic paths, little balconies and flowers go with the steps of those who want to challenge exertion and climb on the flanks of the city. You will lose count of the stairs in Naples. Pedamentina is among the most famous ones, linking Certosa di San Martino to the historical centre and being proud of 650 metres and 414 steps. Many others compete with it, such as Petraio, the ramps of S. Antonio, calata San Francesco, Brancaccio ramps and the Chiaia Steps.

San Gregorio ArmenoDistance: 1,3 Km • How to reach

It is the street of shepherds. You will walk here following the stream of people livening it up all year long. It doesn’t matter if feast days are far, it’s always Christmas in San Gregorio Armeno. Never make figurines come short, as well as tourists. Hidden in the alley linking the Decumanus Maior (Via dei Tribunali) to the Decumanus Minor (Via San Biagio dei Librai) and spaced out by little churches, the craftsmen’s workshops will bewitch you with their display of figurines, from the “canonical ones” to the ones shaped by gossip and current news. Vips, politicians, tv showgirls and actors: even they are there, close to the Baby Jesus and St. Joseph.

Port'AlbaDistance: 1,1 Km • How to reach

The paper core of the city. You can smell the ink and the fried or wrap-around still hot pizza as you turn the corner from the square with the greatest foreseer and you immerse yourself in the shadowed corridor leading to Piazza Bellini, a great hangout for bohemiens and writers.

You may go through this place just on foot among stands of books yellowed by time, the most freshly printed ones, and buildings dating back to the eighteenth century. Magic is all there.

Lungomare CaraccioloDistance: 3 Km • How to reach

It is a promenade by the sea and is dedicated to the Neapolitan eighteenth century admiral Francesco Caracciolo. Born from the urban great change started in the eighteenth century, the beach touched Villa Comunale before that time.
Today, free from cars, it is the city romantic postcard. It is a tour of about 3 km which runs along the sea where you can enjoy the view of Vesuvio, the island Capri, Borgo Marinari, Castel dell’Ovo and the hill of Posillipo. You can enjoy the view of the green park of Villa comunale in front of the sea, and the hill of Vomero and Castel Sant’Elmo in the background.
This is one of most beloved and popular places among tourists, always livened up by several events and pizzerias alternating each other along the seaside.